Last-lathe.



- H. P. LOEWER.

LAST LATHE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 12, 1908.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

FIGJ.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR: iwhuv M Tn: NORRIS PETERS cm, WASHINGTON, a c.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

H. F. LOEWER.

LAST LATHE.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 12, 1908. 968,672. Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

8 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

ms NoRRIs PETERS co, w4sumcrou, c4 c4 H. F. LOEWER.

LAST LATHE. APPLICATION FILED 001". 12, 1908.

WITNESSES:

5 co WASHINGTON, u. c.

INVENTOR:

H. F. LOEWER.

LAST LATHE. APPLICATION FILED 00112, 19.08.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVENTOR:

n: nuRRls PETERS c0, WASHINGTON, 0. c.

H. F. LOEWER. LAST LATHE. APPLICATION FILED OOT.12, 1908. Patented Aug.30, 1910.

MENU L FIG.6.

@WM f x WW FHE NGRRIS PETERS co., WASHINGYON, n

H. F. LOEWER.

LAST LATHE. v APPLICATION FILED 001212, 1908.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

WITNESSES:

THE-NORRIS PETERS co., WASHINGTON, o. c.

HENRY F. LOEWER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

LAST-LATHE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 30, 1910.

Application filed October 12, 1908. Serial No. 457,326.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. Lonwnn, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Last- Lathes, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to last lathes, and has for its object theproduction of a ma chine capable of turning out at one operation from asingle model both a right last and a left last.

It also embodies novel mechanism whereby lasts of different length andwidth may be made.

In the drawings :-Figure 1 is a front elevation of the complete machine;Fig. 2 is a side elevation; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation; Fig. at is avertical section on the line lt-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a section on theline 5-5 of Fig. I, looking toward the rear; Fig. 6 is a top plan of asection taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. T is a vertical section onthe line 77 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is an inside elevation showing part of thelast-carriage; Fig. 9 is a front elevation of the lastcarriage, withlasts and model in place; Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of a section onthe line 10-10 of Fig. 8; Fig. 11 is a plan view of the variable feedmechanism; Fig. 12 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 13 is across-section of the last-carriage showing lasts and model in place; andFig. 1a is a partial rear elevation, with certain parts occupyingclifferent positions than shown in Fig. 3.

The main frame consists of vertical sidepieces 1, 1, rigidly connectedby a front cross bar 2, a rear cross bar 3, and guide bars a and 5.

The main driving shaft 6 is revolubly supported in hearings on said sidepieces, and carries a drum 7 that is connected by a belt 8 to thecutter-wheel 9. The latter is hung in a longitudinally-movable carriage10 that is supported on the cross bars 2 and 3, being guided by aV-shaped rib 11 on the former that enters a corresponding groove in itsunder side (Fig. 4). As the carriage with the cutter wheel is moved inalong the work, the belt 8 moves along the drum 7.

The cutter-bearing carriage is moved horizontally along the work asfollows: On the shaft 6 is a pulley 12 (Fig. 1) from which belts 13 and14: drive a transverse countershaft 15. The pulleys on the latter shaft,with which the belts 13 and 14: connect, comprise two pairs of tight andloose pulleys of different sizes, 16 and 17, and 18 and 19,respectively. The two tight pulleys 17 and 18 are in the center of thegroup, and the two loose pulleys 16 and 19 are at the ends. Abelt-shifter 2O automatically throws the belt 13 onto the tight pulley17 and the belt 14: onto the loose pulley 19, ata certain point in theoperation of the machine, thereby changing the speed of the countershaft15. A description of this automatic operation of the belt shifter willbe postponed till other parts of the machine have been described. Thesaid shaft- 15 is connected with a parallel shaft 22 by a belt 21, andthis in turn drives a shaft 24: at the front of the machine by a belt 23(Fig. 1). The carriage itself is geared to the last mentioned shaft 24;as follows: a worm 25 on the shaft 24 that engages a worm-gear 26, apinion 27 on the shaft of said worm-gear that meshes with a gear 28 thatin turn engages a rack 29 on the under side of the carriage 10 and somoves the latter along on the guide-rib 11 toward the left side of themachine (Fig. 1). When it is desired to disengage the carriage from thedriving mechanism, it can be done by disengaging the worm 25 from theworm-gear 26 through the operation of a lever 30, which controls avertical slide bar 31 that is attached to the bearing or shaft hanger32. By raising the end of the lever 30, the bar 31 is depressed till itlowers the worm 25 out of mesh with the gear 26, thus stopping thecarriage 10. In order to permit the shaft 24 to move sufliciently forthis, the bearing 33 is pivoted in the side-frame 1. IVhen the worm 25and the worm-gear 26 have been disconnected, the carriage may bereturned to the right side of the machine by rotating by hand theworm-gear 26. Besides the cutter-carriage, there is another horizontallymovable carriage 35 (Fig. 13) on which is pivoted the model-wheel 34 bywhich the lasts are formed. This carriage is mounted slidably on theguide bars 4: and 5. Its movement will hereinafter be described. Thesetwo carriages move horizontally together, and in order that lasts ofdifierent lengths may be cut by the same model, the connection iscapable of adjustment that will cause the carriages to move at differentspeeds.

The model wheel carriage 35 is connected to the cutter-carriage 10 by alink 37 and one arm of a bell-crank lever 36 (Fig. This bell-crank ispivoted on the carriage 10 at 38, and its horizontal arm, extendingtoward the right side of the machine, is pivoted to a block 39. Thelatter is grooved to receive a bar 40 upon which it slides. Said bar 40is pivoted in turn at 41 in a fixed bracket 42, so that it may be tiltedat an angle from the horizontal, as shown, and is held in the desiredposition by a setscrew 43 that engages a slotted bracket 44.

It should be noted that the pivot 41 of the bar 40 lies in the samehorizontal plane with the pivot 38 of the bell-crank 36, so that whenthe bar 40 occupies a horizontal position, the arms of the bell-crank 36are, respectively, horizontal and vertical, and accordingly thecutter-carriage 10 and the model wheel carriage 35 move along theirrespective guides at equal speeds and at a fixed distance apart. On theother hand, if the bar 40 is tilted as shown in Fig. 3, the block 39 isforced to move downward at an angle as it is carried along, pulling withit the lower end of the bell-crank 36, and tilting the upper end of thelatter back toward the right side of the machine at an angle whichincreases uniformly as the carriage 10 progresses, so that the distancebetween the vertical planes of the cutter 9 and the model wheel 34 isgradually diminished (Fig. 14). The result is, that when thecutter-carriage 10 reaches the end of its path, it will have moved agreater distance than the modelwheel-carriage 35, and accordingly thecutter 9 will have produced a last that is uni-- formly longer than themodel. If the bar 40 is tilted oppositely, a last is produced that isshorter than the model, for then the upper end of the bell-crank 36 istilted toward the left side of the machine so that the carriage 35 iscaused to move faster and farther than the carriage 10.

The model A and the lasts B and C are carried on a reciprocating framethat comprises two side bars 45, 45, that have tongues 46. The latterlie between rollers 47 within slots 48 in the side-frames 1 (Fig. 7).The frames 45 are braced firmly at proper dis tances apart, near theirfront ends, by bars 49, 50, 51 and 52, of an L-shaped section (Fig. 1),and at their rear ends by a revoluble shaft 53 (Fig. 3). The bars 49,50, 51 and 52 constitute supports for the headstocks and tail-stocksthat carry the model and lasts. The model tail-stock 54 extends betweenthe bars 49 and 50, and is held in place by a clamping plate and bolt55, (Fig. 1), while the last tail-stocks 56, 56 are similarly supportedon the bars 50, 51 and 52,

and have each a spindle 57 adapted to enter the block of wood from whichthe last is to be cut, (Fig. 1). Said spindles 57 are tightened by meansof hand-screws 58.

The model head-stock 59 and the last head-stocks 60, 60 are clampedtightly upon the bars 49, etc, and are in vertical alinement. Thespindles 61 of said head-stocks carry gears 62, 63 and 64, which meshtogether (Fig. 13). The upper and lower gears, 62 and 64, of the setrevolve in the one direction, and the central gear 63 in the oppositedirection. A driving connection is made between the gear 63 and theshaft 22 that includes a clutch whereby the revolution of the model andlasts can be stopped when desired.

The shaft 53 before described as revolubly supported in the slidingframes 45, is driven from the shaft 22 by a belt 65. Adjacent the pulley66 (Fig. 6), over which the belt runs, upon the shaft 53, is a loosepulley 67, which is connected by a belt 68 to a pulley 69 that ispivoted in brackets 7 O on the central headstock. The shaft of thepulley 69 last mentioned carries a pinion 71, which engages the gear 63.Accordingly, when the loose pulley 67 is connected to thecontinuously-running tight pulley 66, the gears 62, 63 and 64 arerevolved as indicated in Fig. 13, but when the pulleys are disconnectedsaid gears stop. The clutch for this connection is shown in Fig. 6. Onthe shaft 53 is a sliding collar 72 in which are pins 73 that projectthrough the hub of the pulley 67 and into sockets in the hub of thepulley 66. Said collar is engaged by a yoke 74 that is slidable upon astud 75, and held in yield ingly by the spring 76, so as to force thepins 73 into the hub of the pulley 66, thereby coupling it to the pulley67 and driving the latter. The yoke 74 has at its front end a roller 77,and in line therewith is a bar 78 that extends to the front of the frame45 and is supported in suitable guides. Near the rear end of the bar 78is a projection 79, which strikes the roller 77 when said bar is pushedtoward the rear of the machine, and thereby moves the yoke 74 toward therlght, till it pulls the pins 73 out of the pulley 66. Thereupon thepulley 67 stops, and with it the gears 62, 63 and 64, whose spindlescarry the model and the lasts.

The frames 45 are constantly forced toward the rear of the machine bythe mechan ism shown in Figs. 8 and 10. A shaft or tube 80 extendsacross the machine and is revolubly supported on studs 81 that arescrewed through the side frames 1, 1, (Fig. 10). Arms 82 are fixed uponthe shaft 80, and their lower ends are connected to the frames 45 bylinks 83. Coiled around each end of the shaft 80 is a stiff spring 84,one end of which engages a pin 85 in said arm, the other end a similarpin 86 that projects from a washer 87 that is screwed upon the stud 81.These two springs are so arranged that their tendency to uncoil gives acontinuous backward pull upon the arms 82. Accordingly, the frames 45,and the parts attached to them, are at all times forced toward the rearof the machine, so that the model A is held tightly against the modelwheel 34. Inasmuch as the model wheel is stationary, and the model, asit revolves, presents an irregular and eccentric surface to it, themodel is at times caused to move forward, but is always held in contactwith the wheel by the springs. As said model moves back and forth, theframes 45 and the rough lasts B and C are carried with it, while thecutter 9 maintains the same position relatively to the last centers asthe model wheel 34 does to the model center. Thus it follows that whenany given point on the face of the model is in a certain position withrespect to the center of the model wheel at a given point in itsrevolution, corresponding points on the last blocks A and B,respectively, are in corresponding positions with respect to the cutter9, and the latter cuts the wood away up to that point. So the operationcontinues, the car riage 10 and the model wheel moving across themachine as before described, and the model and last-carrying framereciprocating at right angles to them. Owing to the fact that the cutter9 is located midway between the blocks B and C, and the latter revolvein opposite directions, one becomes a right and one a left last.

Means are also provided in this invention whereby the lasts may be madewider or narrower than the model, and these may be used with, orindependently of, the mechanism described above for varying the lengthof the last. To this end the model wheel 34 is pivoted in a block 88(Fig. 5) that is dove-tailed into another block 89, which in turn issimilarly mounted and is slidable upon the carriage 35. The block 88 isadjusted relatively to the block 89 by means of a set-screw 90 that isthreaded through the former and bears against a lug 91' (Fig. 13). Inorder to maintain the block 88 firmly in position when adjusted, atapered gib 92 is provided between said block and the block 89 (Fig.13). The gib is drawn backward to lock the two blocks together, by meansof a lever 93 that is pivoted at 94 and has a short arm 95 adapted toengage a slot in the gib. Pivoted in the side-frames 1, 1 is a plate 96(Fig. 13), the pivotal points of which are in line horizontally with thecenter of the model wheel 34. An arm 97 projects downward from saidplate near one end, and a link 98 connects it with the bar 50 andtherefore with the last-and-modelcarrying frames 45. On the back side oftheblock 89 is a vertical guide 99, on which is a block 100. Said blockis moved up or down by the rotation of a screw-threaded spindle 101 thatis bevel-geared to a horizontal spindle 102 on the top of the block 89.The block 100 carries a bearing point 103, so that by turning thespindle 102 the said bearing point may be carried above or below thepivots of the plate 96. The hearing point 103 is held in contact withsaid plate by the action of a spring 104, one end of which is fastenedto the plate and the other end to a hook that projects from the lug 91(Fig. 13). As the frames 45 and the parts attached to it reciprocate,the plate 96 is rocked on its pivots by reason of its connection to saidframe through the arm 97 and the link 98. If the bearing point 103 is inline with the pivotal center of the plate 96, the rocking of the latterhas noeffect on the block 89 and the model wheel 34. If, however, theblock 100 is raised or lowered so that the bearing point 103 is nolonger in line with the pivots of the plate 96, then the block 89, andaccordingly the model wheel 34, is moved slightly forward or backward atevery stroke of the frames 45. In Fig. 13 the bearing point 103 is shownresting against the plate 96 below the center. Whenever the frames 45are carried forward by an elevation on the model striking the modelwheel, the link 98 and arm 97 are moved forward also, and the block 89is carried a short distance forward by the motion of the plate 96. Themodel, of course, is at all times held close to the model wheel, asbefore described, by the action of the springs 84. As the cutter 9cannot also move forward so as to keep in the same vertical line withthe model wheel, it follows that the blocks B and C will not be cut asdeeply as would be the case if the model wheel remained stationary.Therefore a pair of lasts is produced that are wider than the model atall points, in the same ratio that the distance ofthe bearing point 103from the pivots of the plate 96 bears to the total length of the arm 97.If the bearing point 103 is moved above the pivots of the plate 96, itis obvious that an opposite result is obtained. The model wheel thenmoves backward slightly at each forward stroke of the frames 45, and thelatter do not move as far forward as would be the case if the modelwheel were stationary. The blocks B and C are thus cutdeeper at allpoints, and a. pair of lasts is produced uniformly narrower than themodel A.

In order to prevent undue strain upon the moving parts, mechanism isprovided whereby the rotative speed of the lasts and model, and also therate at which the carriage 10 moves, is reduced during the time that thecutter is passing over the widest parts of the lasts, for the cut mustbe deeper at the middle of the last than at the toe and heel. This isaccomplished by means of the belt-shifter 20'described above, which whenmoved toward the left (Fig. 1), brings the belt 13 onto the large tightpulley 17, and places the belt 1 1 on the small loose pulley 19, whereit becomes inoperative, as far as driving the shaft 15 is concerned.Obviously the shaft 15 runs faster with the beltshifter 20 in theposition shown in Fig. 1 than it does when moved to the left, as justdescribed. The automatic mechanism for operating this belt-shifter isshown in Figs. 11 and 12. A lever 105, pivoted at 106 in a stationarybracket, is connected at its lower end to the bar 20, and at its upperend with a horizontal lever 107 that is pivoted at 108. The front end ofthe latter lever is bent into an L-shaped portion 109 (Fig. 11). Fixedin the left side of the carriage 10 is a bar 110 that has at its end adog 111. Said dog engages the front face of the lever-end 109 as thecarriage 1O proceeds toward the left, and before the latter reaches themiddle of its travel, the lever 107 will have been forced to theposition indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 11 and the belt-shifterthereon into the slow position. The lever-end 109 then lies parallel tothe carriage 10, and the dog 111 passes along its face. When the saidcarriage has moved far enough to let the dog 111 slip past the end ofthe part 109, a spring 112 pulls the lever 107, into its formerposition, and in so doing returns the lever 105 and throws thebelt-shifter 20 back into fast position, so that lasts and model willrevolve at their former speed during the time that the carriage 10 iscompleting its travel, and the cutter 9 is working on the heel portionsof the lasts. When the carriage 10 is returned to the right side of themachine, the dog 111 does not move the lever 107, for it tilts up anddrags across it because of the bevel on its under side (Fig. 12). Afterpassing the lever 107, said dog drops down and is ready to engage itwhen the carriage moves again to the left.

The last-carrying frame has means for holding it in an extreme forwardposition, clear of the cutter and model wheel, into which it is drawn byhand after the cutting operation, for the purpose of removing andreplacing the lasts and model. Said means consists of a lever 113 thatis pivoted at one end to one of the oscillating frames 45, and has atits other end a notch 113 (Fig. 2). hen the frame 45 is pulled forwardby hand, as aforesaid, the lever 113 drops so that the notch 113 engagesthe corner of the stationary frame 1, and holds the frames 15 andattached parts from moving backward under the influence of the springs84. Furthermore, when the frames 15 are pulled forward to the positionlast described, the last and model spindles are automatically stopped.To accomplish this, the clutchdisconnecting bar 78 carries a pin 114;(Fig. 13) that strikes an inwardly-projecting lug 115 on the frame 1.Said bar is thus moved backward and disconnects the pulleys 66 and 07 ashereinbefore described.

In order to maintain a suflicient tension upon the cutter-driving belt 8so that it cannot slip on the cutter-pulley, an idler 116 is provided.Said idler is suspended from the carriage 10 in a frame 117 (Fig. 5),and a set-screw 118 that passes through a swivel-nut in said frameaffords a convenient means of drawing said pulley downward upon the belt8 and so tightening it. It is understood that the belt 8 also travelsalong the drum 7 with the carriage 10 as it progresses, so as tomaintain its alinement with the cutter-pulley.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine for turning irregular forms, the combination with asuitable supporting frame, of a spring-controlled, work andmodel-carrying frame adapted to reciprocate horizontally therein; acutter with its carriage adapted to move horizontally also but at rightangles to the movement of the frame first mentioned; a model-wheel withits carriage movable parallel with said outter carriage; means foroperating said outter carriage; a differential connection between saidcutter carriage and said modelw'heel carriage, consisting of abell-crank lever that is pivoted to the first carriage, and is connectedat one end with the other carriage; and an adjustably inclined guide inthe path of the horizontal movement of said lever with the cuttercarriage, and adapted to engage its other end.

2. In a machine for turning irregular forms, the combination with asuitable supporting frame, of a spring-controlled, work andmodel-carrying frame adapted to reciprocate horizontally therein; acutter with its carriage adapted to move horizontally also but at rightangles to the movement of the frame first mentioned; a model-wheel withits carriage movable parallel with said outter carriage; means foradvancing said work-carrying frame toward said cutter carriage; anadjustably inclined guide bar pivoted alongside the path of the cuttercarriage; a block adapted to slide thereon; and a bell-crank lever thatis pivoted to the cut-- ter carriage, adjacent to the guide, which isconnected at one end with the model-wheel carriage, and at the otherwith said sliding block.

3. In a machine for turning irregular forms, the combination of meansfor supporting two blocks and a cutter on inde pendent, substantiallyparallel axes, said means having provision for relative trans versemovement of said axes, in which movement the cutter axis is always in aplane lying between and substantially equidistant from the axes of theblocks a model and a model-wheel, means for supporting the model and themodel-wheel on substantially parallel axes, said means having provisionfor relative transverse movement of said axes, in which movement theaxis of the model-wheel is always in a plane lying substantially thesame distance from the axis of the model as the distance between theaxis of each block and said plane passing through the axis of thecutter, connections between the parts by which the distance between thecutter axis and the axes of the blocks is controlled by the distancebetween the axes of the model-wheel and the model, means for rotatingthe cutter, the model and the blocks, and means for imparting relativelongitudinal motion to the parts to cause the modelwheel to traverse themodel and the cutter to traverse the blocks.

HENRY F. LOEWER. WVitnesses:

D. GURNEE, L. THON.

